In his letter to the young Pastor Titus, the Apostle Paul gives this advice in 1 Timothy 4:16

[16] Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (ESV)

Now depending upon your translation, “and on the teaching” can be translated like it does in the NIV.

16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

Now why do I bring this up? In January of 2025 Ligonier Ministries along with Lifeway Research conducted a survey of 3000 Evangelicals from various back ground and from across the U.S. The results were both striking and troubling as it gives a clear picture about the status of the American Church and how most either do not understand what they believe or as confused about what they believe to the point of being contradictory. I will place a link to this information at the end of this post.

Unfortunately, we as a people are weak in the basics of our faith and it shows in what we believe. We believe in Christ and place our faith in him for salvation. Which is correct. However, there is so much more to a walk with Christ that goes beyond “all I need is Jesus.” If we are to understand why our salvation comes from God through the person and work of Jesus Christ, then we have to understand the nature of our sin and the nature and character of God and why he must respond. We cannot fully understand why we need God to save us from our sins ans why our works cannot save us unless we have a full and deep understanding of what we believe.

We also cannot give a full and complete Gospel message to those around us or have hearts that are broken for the lost if we do not have a full and complete understanding of our own standing before God, who and what we were prior to our salvation, and who and what we are now in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Returning back to his first letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul warns against those who do not follow or teach a different doctrine. 1 Timothy 6:3–5

[3] If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, [5] and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (ESV)

Now we are not going to dig deeply into doctrine and theology in this post, but merely bring this up to introduce a new series that will be covered in the Podcast starting January 28, 2026 where we will be looking into the survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research to see what the Bible teaches about the points of theology and doctrine that should be the foundations of our faith in Christ Jesus. But turns out that they are likely not. We will end this post with more encouragement from the Apostle Paul as he wrote in 1 Timothy 4:6–10.

[6] If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. [10] For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (ESV)

If you are interested in the State of Theology in the U.S., and want to take a look at it yourself, that information can be found on the state of theology website: https://thestateoftheology.com/

Otherwise, I hope that you will tune into this series and that it will be a blessing to you and an encouragement to dig deeper into your faith, and to join with a local body of Christ in your area. The only place that we can grow in our faith and understanding of who God is and why Christ did what he did is to be a part of a Christ centered Bible teaching and preaching church.